Bywater American Bistro in New Orleans

From the moment I read about its opening I wanted to dine at Nina Compton’s neighborhood restaurant Bywater American Bistro, or BABS as locals fondly call it.

On our last trip to New Orleans, two years ago, we had dinner at Compère Lapin, Nina Compton’s first restaurant. The food was incredible and so creative with her Caribbean influence. So I knew we had to try her new place this visit. I have been following Chef Compton’s career for several years. We rooted for her on Top Chef , because at the time she was working at a restaurant in Miami and we were supporting chefs in our state. She came in second to a chef from Philly, Nick Elmi (where Steve and I were born and raised) so we weren’t really too upset. We were so happy to see Nina’s career soar in New Orleans and winning the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Chef South!

The first words you see when you go on Bywater American Bistro’s website is that “Bywater American Bistro is an American neighborhood restaurant. To us, it’s a place you come because you’re already friends of ours, or you soon will be. A casual energetic place with yummy food, authentic hospitality, great libations and friendly faces.” No truer word were ever written.

When Steve made all of our dinner reservations for our 50th Anniversary Celebration trip to New Orleans he let every restaurant know what we were celebrating. At each one that we visiting there was something special to commemorate our milestone. But no where were we celebrated more than at BABS. Driving to the restaurant in the Bywater we realized just how far off the beaten path it is. Thank goodness for the phone’s GPS because you could pass right by it very easily. In fact, we did. But parking was easy with a parking lot right in front. And that is a big plus in New Orleans. Trust me on that. We entered the cozy spot and gave our name for our reservation just like you would at any restaurant. But that is where the commonplace ended. We were given a welcome that we might have expected at an establishment that we frequented often. The hostess sat us and handed us menus. A second later she returned with a card that said Happy Anniversary and was signed by each and every employee of BABS. She then returned with coupe glasses and champagne!

Our server assisted us in choosing our menu options. It was really hard to narrow down our selections knowing the cooking would be “ingredient driven food where inspiration comes from our personal experiences or one of the many cultures represented in our area, past and present. Our cooking is also inspired by small local farms, using ingredients that are seasonal and raised or caught with care.

As usual we opted for all small plates. Small plates being only slightly smaller portions of what you would expect for entrées. We started of with the rich and creamy Pumpkin Soup with brown butter, crouton and a beautiful white floating island created by a quenelle of buttermilk sorbet. No. Really. Sorbet in the middle of a bowl of piping hot soup! It was perfect. The cold sorbet cooled the soup down to just the right temperature to be able to enjoy every last drop right away without having to blow on each spoonful so we didn’t burn our tongues and kill our tastebuds for the rest of our meal.

Next we enjoyed the Tuna Toast. Sound like a very simple dish. Right? But the flavors were so complex and delicious. The toasted bread was topped with tomatoes, garlic, avocado and yummy slices of fresh ahi tuna. We each could have eaten 10 of the toasts but we restrained ourselves because we knew we had lots more deliciousness to come. Which brings me to our next dish the Pickled Shrimp. This may have been one of the most beautiful plates of food ever. The pickled shrimp were nestled in a pool of buttermilk with celery, herbs and colorful Trout roe. And the flavors were as bright as the dish was beautiful. With the Pickled Shrimp dish we enjoyed some of their amazing housemade whole grain bread with butter. Even plain bread and butter is elevated to new heights at BABS.

From there we continued with our hot selections. For the first we chose the Fried Gulf Oysters with oyster gravy and Jasmine rice. Steve and I both adore oysters so we order them in some form or another whenever they are on the menu. And I have to say that these were extraordinary! They were huge, briny, and tender with a flavorful crunchy coating that was enhanced by the gravy and enriched by the aromatic Jasmine rice.

Our last savory dish was ordered at the urging of our server. She told us that the Spaghetti Pomodoro was not to be missed. Even such a simple dish as that tastes so incredibly good because of the quality of the fresh pasta that is made in house and the locally grown tomatoes. It really was outstanding and I think there would be quite an uproar if they took it off the menu. Our server also brought us a side dish of roasted cabbage because she just wanted us to taste it. And it was every bit as amazing as she said it was.

By this time we were stuffed, but of course we HAD TO HAVE dessert as long as it was something that wouldn’t weigh us down. Naturally that means ice cream or sorbet. So Steve ordered the Sorbet trio of Banana, Berry and Coconut and I chose the more traditional trio of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry Ice Cream. Both of our desserts were served atop pillowy freshly made marshmallows. Honestly I have never been a fan of marshmallows. But I had never had fresh marshmallows before. WOW. That’s all I can say.

But the true icing on the proverbial cake was that we got to meet the incomparable Chef Nina Compton! She had come out of the kitchen to say hi to us while we were enjoying her food. She returned just before we were leaving with a menu that I had requested. When I looked at the menu she had written on it “Happy Anniversary, 50 never looked so good! NC”. So naturally we had to mark the occasion with a happy picture of the three of us.

It is always so difficult to narrow down our dinner reservation to only 7 when spending a week in New Orleans since there are close to 2,000 to choose from. I actually begin my research months in advance, usually the minute we make our reservations. I am hoping that our next trip there will be for a few weeks and in our RV. And, no. We won’t be dining out every night. I love to cook with local ingredients and I adore the bold flavors of Cajun and Creole food. But one thing I do know, is that next trip we will go to BABS more than once!